“We all lose track of our destination at times when all we need is a helping hand and a little guidance.”

Ms. Moses has the following preferences:

Schools: Teresa has a strong interest in working with students at Blatchley Middle School and both high schools. Through her participation in community and cultural events, she has built strong ties with many students in this age range.

Days: Teresa is currently employed with the Tribe; she would need 1-2 weeks notification in order to receive approval from her supervisor. She would like to make weekly trips into the schools, or as needed.

Times: She is available anytime throughout the school day, this includes mentoring students during the lunch hour.

Areas of Activity

Teresa prefers to go into the classroom to help out in with the following areas:

Food demonstrator: She enjoys preparing traditional foods; she often utilizes the recipes in the ANS cookbook.

Teaching Assistant: Helping teachers in the classroom as they discuss and work through place-based educational curriculum.

Art Demonstration: Traditional song and dance, how to weave raven’s tail (including raven with sea otter fur), and beading.

Field Trips:  She is very good at field trips involving nature, particularly harvesting including Hudson bay tea gathering, berry picking, marine field trips, and others as requested.

Role in the Classroom

Mentor: Teresa has a great rapport with students. As a teen, she struggled with many of the issues still problematic with teens today. She is full of encouragement and has a passion for cultural exploration as a way to grow and succeed as an individual.

Assistant to the Teacher: Teresa feels most comfortable being a tool for teachers to utilize in the classroom. She would love to assist with various cultural projects. Like many in her age group, she is still in the learning process but her topic strengths are a good indication of where her interests lie.

Cultural Instructor: Teresa knows a great deal about her culture; however, as far as instructing, she would prefer to limit herself to food prep/demonstrating and regalia/art demonstrations.

Prior Experience: Teresa was a student in the SSD; while she has never worked directly within the school system, she has numerous experience working with teens. Most recently Teresa coordinated a Sea Otter Hunter Training camp in which 12 students between the ages of 10-18 completed: a marine safety course, gun safety, participated in a sea otter hunt, culminating in the processing of the sea otter hide into pillows.

Cultural Expertise

Sitka Native Education Program (SNEP): Teresa enrolled with SNEP while attending the Tlingit and Haida head start program. She was an active student serving terms as: Gajaa Heen President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Correspondence Secretary, and Publicity Manager. She graduated from the Gajaa Heen Dancers in May 2000 at Sealaska’s “Celebration” held biannually in Juneau.

Tlingit Dance Groups: Teresa is currently a member of three local dance groups. She recently travel to North Carolina with the Naa Kahidi dancers. She is also part of the Noow Tlein Dancers and Kaagwaantaan.

Tlingit Values: Teresa places great importance on balance and respect, especially for the land, people, and self.

Regalia Making Skills: Teresa has a full regalia that was made for her by her mother and other cultural instructors. She learned how to bead through SNEP and weave through SEAICC weaving courses.

Song/Dance Instructor: Teresa worked as a song, drumming, and dance instructor for the Naa Kahidi dance group.

Teresa would like to give credit to her Cultural Mentors: Ethel Makinen, Chuck and Elmenda Miller, John and Roby Littlefield, Teri Rofkar, Nels Lawson Sr., Isabella Brady, Vida Davis, her grandparents Vera and Richard Marvin and last but not least her mother, Martha Moses.

Education and Life Experience

Education:

Teresa was born and raised in Sitka. And, she attended school in the Sitka School District. During her senior year, she opted to complete her GED through the Adult Learning Center at UAS.

Work Experience:

Teresa is currently employed with Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Her job includes building the Education and Employment resource library, coordinating a Sea Otter Hunter Training camp, and working to reestablish STA’s youth groups. She works a flexible schedule that would allow her to schedule in activities through Cultural Bearers in the classroom. Her previous work experience includes: sales representative at the Cellar, cashier at Cascade convenient store, and various jobs through SEARHC hospital (Ravens Way, medical records, communications, etc.)

A Brief Biography

Born and raised in Sitka, Teresa developed a strong sense of pride in her Native heritage which she enjoys sharing with others through songs, dance, and other cultural activities. She is the daughter of Martha and Terry Moses and the granddaughter of Richard and Vera Marvin.

Some of her favorite past-times include: kayaking, rollerblading, hiking, and subsistence harvesting. Some of the foods she harvests are: salmon, halibut, rockfish, sea otter, berries,  and  deer, to name only a few.

Teresa has worked in a variety of customer service jobs and has become skilled with working with different people of diverse backgrounds. Being a Tribal dancer for 13 years has helped her further develop her ability to relate to a variety of personalities.

She has been involved in numerous non-profit organizations starting during her Middle School years. She was in Sitka Teen Indian Native Group (STING), Gajaa Heen Dancers, Alaska Native Sisterhood
(ANS) and more, where she learned meeting protocol and constructive peer interactions.